Boston Bruins Bounce Back, Top Penguins 4-1

The start of the week for the Boston Bruins saw two extremely disappointing losses to Philadelphia and Columbus. Thursday night saw a change of fortune as the Bruins scored an impressive 4-1 victory over the white-hot Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden.

After a nightmare start, the Bruins connected twice in 2:13 seconds to take a lead they would not lose. Par Lindholm scored his third goal with the Bruins 12:16 into the game, deflecting a Karson Kuhlman shot in close that fooled Tristan Jarry glove side. That proved to be the game winner as the Bruins got back on track on home ice.

Jaroslav Halak, starting in place of the injured Tuukka Rask, made 29 saves for his eleventh victory of the season. Tristan Jarry stopped 26 shots as he fell to 16-7-1 on the season.

Sidney Crosby had the Garden crowd restless just 24 seconds into the game. In just his second game since November, Crosby opened the scoring when he received a pass from Dominik Simon just before gaining the Bruins zone. Crosby rifled a slap shot right over the glove of Halak to give the Penguins an early lead.

Credit the Bruins for not backing down. After blowing a 5-2 lead on Monday in Philadelphia and lacking a response Tuesday in Columbus, the Bruins could have folded. They didn’t. Instead, the home team got to work and collected a much needed two points.

It started at 10:23 when Sean Kuraly evened the game at one. Kuhlman gained the offensive zone and found Kuraly along the far wall. He took a long shot from the wall that clipped a Penguins defender and slipped through Jarry for his fourth goal of the season.

The Bruins were buzzing from that point on, and took the lead just 2:13 later. That’s where Kuhlman made his impact known again, gaining the Penguins zone and firing a shot into traffic that Lindholm tipped home for the eventual game winning goal.

Good stuff from Boston’s third line. Heinen forces a turnover and Kuhlman fires one in that Lindholm tips home.

2-1 Bruins. pic.twitter.com/BEEnPEEGBT

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) January 17, 2020

Neither side found the back of the net in the second period, but it was not for a lack of chances. The Bruins, while on the powerplay, got into a little danger in the final minute of the period.

A sloppy turnover led to a shorthanded two-on-one for the Penguins that Halak was able to deny. The Penguins generated a second, third and eventually fourth chance, but Halak was able to slam the door shut and keep the Bruins up by a goal through forty minutes.

Jaroslav Halak made the first save. The second.
And the third.
And the fourth. pic.twitter.com/1M0nqY0pcs

— Evan Marinofsky (@emarinofsky) January 17, 2020

That proved to be an extremely important sequence. The Bruins were able to get the next goal, building a two goal lead the effectively ended the night.

Patrice Bergeron snagged his 20th of the season 3:19 into the third period. David Pastrnak collected a loose puck along the wall and found Bergeron streaking into the zone. The veteran center placed a perfect wrist shot over the glove of Jarry for his 40th point of the campaign.

Brad Marchand polished it off and finished the scoring with an empty net goal at 19:07, his 21st of the season.

The Bruins return to action Sunday afternoon at 12:30 pm on NBC when they visit the Penguins for the regular season series finale at PPG Paints Arena.